A Handy Home-Made Water Motor

By Kenneth Kruger

A very useful water motor that will run a small dynamo or a sewing
machine on a pressure of about 30 pounds water pressure can be made at a
very small expense.

Procure two 7-inch flaring edge pie plates 1 inch deep. Find the exact
center and punch a pin hole through the bottom of each plate. Place the
plates with their bottoms together and hold their centers in line by
placing a pin through the holes.

Rivet the plates together, using eight rivets spaced equal distances
apart on a circle 4 inches in diameter. Then solder the joint all the way
around the plates.

Cut 16 triangular pieces of tin to fit between the edges of the plates
(see sketch). Solder them at uniform intervals around the plates, between
the diverging edges. These form the buckets and should be placed at an
angle, as shown in Fig. 1.

After the buckets have been finished drill a 1/4-inch hole through the
center of the pie plates for the shaft. Slip a 1/4-inch brass rod through
the hole and solder it in place. Be sure that the rod is perpendicular to
the plane of the wheel. The shaft should be at least 6 inches long.
Solder a brass thrust collar 1/4 inch thick and 5/16 inch from the bottom
of the plates on the shaft. There should be one on each side of the
wheel. Now saw out two round hard wood discs of wood 1/2inch thick and 7
1/2 inches in diameter. Boil them in paraffine to make them waterproof.

Drill a hole through the center of each, just large enough to admit the
bearing.

The bearings are made of brass tubing having an inside diameter of 1/2
inch. Take a piece 1 inch long and with a hack saw cut six slots in one
end 3/8 inch deep. Then bend out the end of the tube at right angles to
itself. Make two bearings in this way and fasten one in each wooden disc
with screws. Next cut out a piece of tin 24 inches long by 3 3/4 inches
wide In the center of same cut a hole 4 inches by 1 3/4 inches, as shown
in Fig. 2.

Punch holes 1 inch apart and 1/4 inch from the edge on each of the long
sides. Wrap the tin around the edge of one of the wooden discs and tack
it tightly in place. Then place a brass washer on each end of the shaft
and put the wheel in place. Now slip on the other disc and tack the tin
to it. Solder the place where the ends of the tin overlap. Next cut out a
piece of tin the size and shape shown in Fig. 3 for the spillway. Fold
the tin on the vertical dotted lines and solder the overlapping ends.
Bend the edges at right angles and place the spillway over the bottom
hole in the cylindrical casing.

Solder it carefully in place. The nozzle is made of an oil-can spout, cut
off so that the hole is about 1/4 inch in diameter at the smaller end.
Solder the spout to a hose connection. Now drill a hole in the center of
the casing as in Fig. 1. Connect the nozzle to the faucet by means of a
short length of hose and turn on the water. Ascertain the position of the
nozzle where the maximum speed is obtained, then solder it firmly in
place. Next cut off one end of the shaft close to the casing.

Allow the other end to protrude far enough to hold the pulley. The pulley
may be of the flat or "V" grooved type and can be fastened to the shaft
with a wedge key or set screw. The pulley should not be over 2 1/2 inches
in diameter.